If you're like most parents, right now is a bittersweet time. Sure, the kids are back in class, but with it comes a barrage of fundraisers. Just about every school - public or private - needs more money.
And I'm not against it by any means. However, when the boxes of chocolate bars or the order forms for gift wrap arrive in the book bags, it's difficult to suppress a groan. On more than one occasion, I've told my husband I wish they'd just send us a bill for our portion and cut out the middle man.
My girlish figure really doesn't need any candy, and I have enough wrapping paper to take care of Santa's Village. But we do it for our children.
This year I'm chairing the fundraising committee for my younger son's school. My goal is to incorporate projects that teach as well as bring in money. I mentioned one a few weeks ago, Box Tops for Education, that's run by General Mills. But in my quest, I've found another I must share.
The company is called TerraCycle, and its aim is to make eco-friendly, affordable consumer products from waste.
When I broke into a bag of peanut MnMs this morning, I noticed a familiar logo on the back of the package, Terracycle, and was reminded that I have not been sending much material their way lately nor have I plugged them enough on the blog.
So... In case you haven't heard of them, Terracycle <http://www.terracycle.net/> is a fantastic, award-winning small business which specializes in "up-cycling," that is, making consumer products from post-consumer materials. Founded by a few guys from Princeton and headquartered in New Jersey, the company that used to produce natural plant products (worm waste products) has diversified to collecting millions of waste units to be transformed into useful products - all while collecting a ton of money for charity. You've probably seen their logo on various back-to-school items on sale at major retailers like Target and Walmart or possibly recognize the name from the Terra-Team's reality show "Garbage Moguls" that premiered Earth Day of 2009 on National Geographic. All this even after the company founder, Tom Szaky, turned down a million dollar prize from the Carrot Capital Business Plan contest because he didn't like the direction Carrot Capital wanted to take the company. Love it. Donate, shop, and learn all about Terracycle here <http://www.terracycle.net/> .
Programs that encourage environmentally benign buying pay off for both consumers and businesses. Manufacturers and retailers are participating in green rewards programs that give shoppers the chance to earn points toward purchases of other products by living sustainably.
Consumers get some welcome greenbacks for making environmentally friendly choices. Meanwhile, companies get to burnish their environmental reputations, attracting more consumers who already make a point of buying green products from good environmental stewards. At the same time, the distribution of associated coupons and rewards raises foot traffic and brand awareness.
Advocates of eco-conscious living hope the programs will spread environmental awareness to more-mainstream consumers, who may be deterred by higher prices for organic food or the extra time it might take to separate out their recyclables. The economic downturn is “a great time to introduce an incentive” for sustainable living, says Tiger Beaudoin, the founder and vice president of marketing for EcoBonus, a green rewards program that will launch on Earth Day 2011. “People have good intentions, but price is an important purchase driver.”
Paul Smith wrote a series of articles about Terracyle <http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/02/28/home-depot-and-petco-targeted-for-terracycles-newest-recycling-efforts/> last year. Founded by Tom Szaky and Jon Beyer in 2001 while students at Princeton, Terra Cycle <http://www.terracycle.net/bb/> started as a way to spread the benefits of vermicomposting (that is, composting <http://kellibestoliver.greenoptions.com/wiki/composting> with worms) to a larger audience. Szaky and Beyer were eventually able to earn startup funds, and by 2004, Home Depot <http://www.homedepot.com/> was carrying Terra Cycle <http://www.terracycle.net/bb/> Plant Food <http://www.terracycle.net/products.htm> on their website.
Terracycle <http://terracycle.net/> , founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky when he was a 19 year old Princeton freshman, began by selling all-natural plant fertilizers using old plastic soda bottles. The chemical fertilizer was literally "all-natural" because it was harvested from vermicompost <http://www.redwormcomposting.com/ecopreneurs/ten-things-i-love-about-terracycle/> : earthworm waste. Nearly ten years later, Terracycle products are being sold at major retailers like Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market.
I’m not going to judge you for your obsession with Real Housewives, but if you’d like to tune in to some trashy television of the more guilt-free variety, you won’t want to miss the Garbage Moguls marathon airing this Saturday (starting at 7 pm) on the National Geographic Channel. The show follows the inner workings of one of my favorite eco-minded companies, TerraCycle, as its crew works to transform trash into treasure.
Have you heard of TerraCycle <http://www.terracycleshop.com/> ? They make environmentally friendly and affordable products, made from non-recyclable waste materials. They have over 50 products that sell at retailers such as Walmart, Target and Petco. TerraCycle products range from fertilizers to household cleaners to backpacks and toys. Their goal is to find unique uses for items that would go into landfills, and eliminate the idea of waste.
TerraCycle also has a national program called TerraCycle Brigades <http://www.terracycle.net/Brigades> . This program allows you to earn cash for trash (money paid to schools and non-profits). You may choose which "Brigade" you want to join to begin collecting. Some of the Brigades include: Drink Pouch, Aveeno Beauty, Chip Bag, Writing Instruments and Cell Phone. Payout ranges from $.02 per item to $0.25 per item for cell phones.
Tom Szaky's ambitions to turn one of America's fastest-growing private companies into a multi-billion dollar global empire didn't have glamorous beginnings.
Szaky's Trenton-based TerraCycle got off the ground eight years ago out of a Princeton University student business plan contest. Szaky's idea was to establish a company that would transform biodegradable waste into high-yield fertilizer made from worm poop.
Szaky, 28, drew his inspiration for the fertilizer plan from the success he and some of his Canadian high school buddies had in growing robust plants in fertilizer made from worm poop. He decided to drop out of Princeton during his sophomore year to give his full attention to the waste-into-fertilizer business he dubbed TerraCycle.
Today, the company that Szaky founded in 2002 with a $20,000 machine for feeding organic waste to millions of little worms that would turn that waste into fertilizer has moved well beyond being merely a fertilizer-specialty manufacturer.
It is a high-profile player in a niche corner of the recycling market known as "upcycling," in which used materials such as aluminum drink pouches, plastic soda bottles and plastic food wrappers are collected and transformed for use in new products without being broken down into their raw material components.
